Fox's Glove
by PsychicDreams
Summary: Akira's heard all about the mysterious owner of the restaurant, Fox's Glove, but nothing prepares him for meeting the gaze of his employer, with one blue eye and the other gold...


I could have sworn I posted this. In fact, I have a vague thought in my head that I did at one point, but I couldn't find it anywhere. Not on xxxEntric, FFnet, or my journal. Maybe I dreamed I posted it. According to windows, I wrote it some time in April of this year, but damn if I can remember that far back.

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Akira had been working at Fox's Glove for nearly three months before he had questioned some of the older employee's about the owner of the restaurant. He had yet to see the man and it had sounded like he never even paid a visit. How could the owner even know what the restaurant was doing when no one ever reported to him?

"Well, you see, the 'wner is a pretty weird fella," said the dining room manager when he asked on both their breaks. This man had been working there for almost seven years and somehow, in all that time, not once had the restaurant ever dropped below five stars.

"I met the man 'imself and he's a funny fellow. All small and twisted and gnarled…" The man blew smoke from his mouth and Akira politely waved it away when it neared him. No one was allowed to smoke in the restaurant, but during breaks, the staff looked graciously looked away if someone was.

"Oh don't be telling any fibs now, Yanagi-san," interrupted the cook and waved her spatula at him. She had also been there since the restaurant's conception and had the same amount of clout. "And it's time your break is over."

Yanagi shrugged and winked at Akira as he stubbed out his cigarette and straightened his uniform to head out onto the dining room floor. Sasahara, the chef, turned back to her creations and puttered around. For a restaurant that was booming as it was, there was only one chef allowed to cook. All others were just assistants. Apparently an order from the owner.

"Don't you believe Yanagi-san, dear. He's only seen the owner from a distance when he was hired, never met him. He's only trying to tease you. I'm not meaning to brag, but I'm the only one that ever met him. I had to, since he interviewed every single chef himself. I had to cook for him and he analyzed every taste and movement I did. Mind you, it was only once and I never met him again. I was lucky if I saw him from a distance."

"What was he like?"

Sasahara sighed a little. "Oh, he was a very pretty man," she replied, putting a cake in the oven. "And I only saw a glimpse once, mind you, but it appeared as if one of his eyes was gold and the other blue. He was thin, too, and wherever he is, so is another gentleman. That one is bigger and taller and I've often wondered if he's a bodyguard that Watanuki-san hired."

"His name is Watanuki?"

"Yes. Watanuki Kimihiro. One and only time he said his name and I'm unable to forget it." She chuckled and sat down in a chair while she waited for something to finish and give her something to do, ignoring all the waiters and waitresses that came and left with orders of food. "When the restaurant was just starting out and we were pressed for time…Well, at that time we didn't have an extra chef so we could do schedules, so I was required to be here every day. Took a toll on my body and I ended up so sick at home with a cold that I couldn't even stand. I heard from Yanagi-san later that the owner had instinctively known and had come and _cooked the food himself_. That's when the restaurant got its five star rating. I wish I could have been there. It was then that Yanagi-san caught his one and only glimpse of owner."

Akira was becoming more and more fascinated with every word about this mystery owner. His eyes were wide with excitement and he could only wish that he would get to meet Watanuki-san. He loved working in Fox's Glove more than anything and if he could get to see the man that had started it…

"Back to work now, young Akira-kun," she admonished gently when his break was over.

It was a week later that Akira got his unusual wish. They had closed up late that night and most were working overtime to clean up after a huge conference that had come to town and had decided to book _their_ restaurant. Sasahara was resting, slightly dozing, in a chair while the rest cleaned. It wasn't right to push the poor woman when she had spent over ten hours on her feet with a massive rush to get out food faster than it could cook.

The door jingled and Akira, closest to it, looked up. The man that entered wore a thick black coat that went down to his calves to protect him from the winter chill and his skin was nearly as white as the snow outside. He wore sunglasses and dusted himself off with two gloved hands. Behind him, another man entered, his clothes much the same, except they were larger and allowed for quicker movements.

"I'm sorry, the restaurant is closed," he began, but stopped at a gasp from Yanagi. The rest of the staff could only stare in perplexity as the confident man immediately snubbed out his cigarette and bowed lower than he was ever seen to before.

"Owner, it's a pleasure as always. What brings you here?"

The silverware dropped from Akira's listless fingers as the slimmer man pulled off his sunglasses, indeed showing one golden eye and another blue. Strangely, the golden eye matched perfectly the shade of his bodyguard. When he realized he'd dropped his burden, Akira's face flushed red and dove to pick them up.

Watanuki-san was indeed beautiful to look at and he felt his heart give a painful thump. The smile on those thin lips, that were red from the abrupt change of cold to warm, was like a tiny sun that chased the darkness from his heart.

"It's been awhile since I was here and I thought I'd come to see how the restaurant was doing." There was a faint disappointed look crossing his features. "So many new faces. Only you, Yanagi-san, and Sasahara-san are still here." The woman was completely out to the world a faint snore came from her lips. Watanuki chuckled just a little.

"Yes, we do have a few new faces, this young'un being one of them."

Akira blushed when Yanagi draped an arm around his shoulders and held him close. Watanuki's discolored eyes turned back to the newest employee and the young boy could feel his hands shake a little. Just being in front of this man, this owner, made it clear the aura of power around him. He was probably really rich or something. He probably owned a chain of restaurants…

"P-pleasure to meet you," he stuttered, managing to look up. "I-I'm Sasoba Akira."

"Pleasure to meet you too. How long have you been working here?"

"Three months next week, sir."

"If there's anything you have questions about, feel free to ask—"

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

Akira cringed in the stunned silence when his question just popped out of his mouth before Watanuki had even finished speaking. He was being stared at and suddenly all he wanted to do was bury his face in Yanagi's broad chest beside him and sink into the floor. He was so mortified at himself…

Yanagi's arm tightened on his shoulders as Watanuki flushed just a little. "N-No, I don't—"

"He's not available."

The deep voice of Watanuki's companion caught everyone's attention, even waking Sasahara, though it wasn't particularly loud in volume. Golden eyes watched him and then when everyone's attention was riveted on the bigger man, his arm draped itself over Watanuki. To the surprise of all, he leveled a sweet kiss on those red lips, making it clear why he was not available.

Akira wondered if he was about to get fired for asking such an impertinent question. He could see thunderclouds of annoyance in the owner's eyes and he felt as if he were about to cry. He had wanted to see the owner, but he had ended up making things a whole lot worse.

For another tense ten minutes, Watanuki conversed with Sasahara and Yanagi and the two men left. Once they were gone, all eyes seemed to focus so intently on Akira that he fled to the safety of the kitchen, where no one would bother him. He didn't care that he was skipping on work, when he'd probably be fired tomorrow anyway.

"What was that all about?"

The teenager looked up in confusion as Yanagi appeared, the accent gone and speaking as clearly as anyone born in Tokyo. He groaned and hid his face from the manager. "No, I just…maybe…I don't know! He was just…really pretty and I guess I was curious 'cause he was sad when only you and Sasahara-san had stayed in the restaurant."

Yanagi frowned just a little and approached the figure trying to hide behind his hands. "Don't do that."

"Don't do what?"

"Don't ask those questions. Don't flirt. You'll make me insanely jealous."

"J-jealous?" he stuttered and in confusion, lifted up his head.

That proved to be his undoing as Yanagi had leaned forward and kissed him, much more passionately than Watanuki's companion had. It left his knees feeling weak and the arm that went around his waist soon became the only thing holding him up.

"Yanagi-san?" he asked breathily when they broke away.

"I like you, Akira, so don't ask things like that anymore. I won't even give you up to the owner."

Yanagi kissed him again and Akira lost all sense of time.

"_Why_ did you have to do that?!" Watanuki hissed as they walked down the street. His cheeks were still burning with a blush and he glared at his partner for all he was worth.

"Because I didn't want anyone to get any ideas," Doumeki responded without a hint of apology.

Watanuki had managed, somehow, to survive to his 27th year of life and somehow was _still_ working for Yuuko. She told him she was grooming him to take her place, but he thought she really just liked to order him around. The only good thing she had ever done was help him set up his restaurant, a dream of his.

"I don't even know why we had to go!" he muttered under his breath. He rarely visited because he trusted Yanagi and Sasahara and he didn't want his shop to be at all tainted by spirits or drawing them, like his body did.

There was a twinkling sound and he looked up, seeing Yuuko dressed in a black suit edged in iridescent blue and purple, smiling from her seat on a nearby bench. She held an old, frayed bell that it was amazing it could still make sound.

"You did excellent, Watanuki."

"What was that all about?" he demanded before taking a closer look at the bell. "Hey, isn't that…"

"Yup, it's Yanagi-san's. You see, he found my shop and made a wish. He liked someone he worked with and when he found out a wish of his crush, he asked me to make it come true."

"What was the wish?"

"He wanted to meet you, Watanuki. He had just started working at your restaurant…"

He gasped. "Sasoba-kun!" He flushed at remembering the young man's blunt question and sent a piercing stare at an unapologetic boyfriend.

"Yup. And thanks to your little visit and Doumeki's actions, Yanagi-san could confess to the one he liked."

"W-wait a second! You _didn't_…"

"You mean, I didn't tell Doumeki to kiss you at some point in your visit? Why, Watanuki, of _course_ I did. Thanks for working so hard!" With that, she flounced up in her silly, light-hearted way and strode away toward her shop with Watanuki's irate yells following.

** End **


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